Latest Developments in the Iraq Crisis

The Associated Press

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Latest developments in the Iraq crisis:

_Long lines of U.S. tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and fuel trucks snaked through the Kuwaiti desert in columns Wednesday, fighting sandstorms as they headed toward the Iraqi border. About 300,000 U.S. troops were within striking distance of Iraq, backed by more than 1,000 warplanes.

_Aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Mediterranean, combat pilots and others were ordered to snooze through the day Wednesday so they could work through the night.

_Facing an 8 p.m. EST deadline to go into exile or face war, Saddam Hussein resisted. Iraq's rubber-stamp parliament rejected the U.S. ultimatum and reaffirmed support for Saddam.

_Royal Jordanian Airlines _ the only commercial airline with regularly scheduled flights to Baghdad _ said it was canceling them.

_The United States and Britain are drafting a plan to use Iraqi oil proceeds in a $40 billion U.N.-controlled account to pay for humanitarian relief during a war, according to senior diplomats and U.N. officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

_Foreign ministers from France, Russia and Germany _ staunch opponents of waging war against Iraq _ will address the United Nations later this morning.

_Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told a special Cabinet meeting that his nation is "100 percent" prepared for a possible Iraqi attack. The military completed a call-up of 11,000 reservists.

_Turkey's government said it would ask its parliament by Thursday to grant the U.S. the right to use Turkish airspace but would not immediately ask lawmakers to allow in U.S. troops.

_A staunch U.S. ally, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, requested his Parliament's authorization for U.S.-led forces to use Italian air space and military bases _ but not for launching directs attacks on Iraq. The request was expected to be approved.

_Oil prices dropped by more than $3 a barrel, or about 9 percent, falling to their lowest level in more than two months.